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As librarians and teaching faculty in higher education institutions grapple with the impact of AI, how might we reimagine evaluation and expertise as interventions that help us make better sense of the changing nature of information, rather than further alienate us from those changes? Steven Geofrey, Senior Research Scientist at Project Information Literacy (PIL), will join Moderator and BLC member, Wendy Potheir, Associate Professor and Business and Economics Librarian, Dimond Library, University of New Hampshire, to discuss our field’s relationship with trusting AI as a way to develop student agency as well as our own as information professionals.
PIL’s Senior Research Scientist and an Associate Teaching Professor at Northeastern University’s College of Arts, Media and Design, Steven will discuss what digital literacies are needed by students (and disciplinary faculty) to understand the monolithic entities of AI and technology. This session includes time for Q&A with librarians, faculty, and staff to share ideas about strategies for helping students with acquiring necessary digital literacies for completing course work and throughout their lives as lifelong learners.
Background readings: Adrienne LaFrance, “The coming humanist renaissance,” The Atlantic, June 5, 2023. Barbara Fister and Alison J. Head, “Getting a grip on ChatGPT,” Inside Higher Ed, May 4, 2023.
About PIL’s Virtual Chats
Since 2021, PIL has offered hour-long virtual chats to different institutions in the U.S. and Canada with PIL researchers as a way to foster discussion and share ideas around improving teaching and learning while suggesting new avenues for inquiry and experimentation. Conversations are tailored to each institution’s interests and the issues relevant to their challenges. No slides are used in PIL’s chats, in order to encourage in-depth conversation and sharing of strategies. A recording of the session will be made available for the purpose of being livecast, stored, and viewed asynchronously by the BLC community.Speakers
Steven Geofrey is a Senior Research Scientist at Project Information Literacy (PIL)and an Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Art + Design at Northeastern University. With a background in the natural sciences (chemistry and biophysics), Steven uses his scientific training to leverage the methods of statistical analysis, modeling, and data visualization in research across the social sciences, arts, and humanities. He was responsible for data analysis, statistical analysis, and data visualization in PIL's upcoming Climate Change Study (June 2024). More about Steven’s work is available at https://fluidencodings.com. 
Wendy Pothier is an Associate Professor and Business & Economics Librarian at the University of New Hampshire. Wendy’s research areas include explorations around data literacy, digital badges and micro-credentials, and information literacy for business disciplines. Wendy co-founded the Business Community of Interest with the Boston Library Consortium and currently serves as secretary of Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) Business Reference and Services Section (BRASS), past convener of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Digital Badge Interest Group and as a editorial board member of portal: Libraries and the Academy. She is the 2022 recipient of the BRASS Excellence in Business Librarianship Award and co-awardee of the 2023 BRASS Emerald Research Grant Award. Wendy holds an MS in Library Science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania and a MS in International Logistics Management from Maine Maritime Academy.